The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Managing Occupational Burnout and Workplace Violence of Healthcare Workers. A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are vulnerable to workplace violence, which poses serious threats to their safety and well-being. The objective was to evaluate the mediating effect of workplace violence on the association between job burnout and emotional intelligence. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs at Benha University Hospital. Level of job burnout among HCWs who experience violence, interaction correlation between workplace violence, job burnout dimensions and emotional intelligence, and the mediating effect of workplace violence have been evaluated using descriptive and analytical analysis. Results: A total 200 HCWs were included. Approximately 52.5% were males and 52% were above 30 years. Approximately 48% of HCWs were nurses, 35% were physicians, and 17% were medical technicians. The mean scores were 5.52±2.60 for workplace violence (maximum 27), 80.22±12.272 for emotional intelligence (maximum 112), and 43.49±18.89 for job burnout (maximum 90). Mean job burnout score showed a highly statistically significant difference between those who experienced job violence (45.35±17.94) and those who didn’t (14.41±2.60). Workplace violence was positively correlated with all burnout dimensions, including emotional exhaustion (r=0.682), depersonalization (r=0.623), and reduced personal accomplishment (r=0.732). Conversely, emotional intelligence (55.26±24.88) showed negative correlations with burnout dimensions including emotional exhaustion (r=-0.885), depersonalization (r=-0.786), and reduced personal accomplishment (r=-0.440), in addition to workplace violence (r=-0.752). Conclusions: The current findings showed negative correlations of emotional intelligence with both job burnout and workplace violence. The findings suggest that healthcare stakeholders and hospital administrators should promote strategies that improve the emotional intelligence of HCWs.